Neil Gorsuch takes oath as US Supreme Court judge

Neil Gorsuch was today sworn in as the new judge of the US Supreme Court, capping a grueling confirmation process and filling the seat once held by the late conservative icon Antonin Scalia.
Gorsuch, 49, took the Constitutional Oath in a private ceremony, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts in the Supreme Court's Justice's Conference Room. He was accompanied by his wife Louise, who held the Bible, and his two daughters.
Later, in a public ceremony at the White House, Justice Anthony Kennedy -- Gorsuch's former boss -- administered the Judicial Oath.
Confirmed by the Senate on Friday after a bitter months-long fight, Gorsuch was sworn in as the US Supreme Court's ninth justice.

"We are here to celebrate history," President Trump said, calling Gorsuch a man of "unmatched qualification" and "deeply devoted" to the Constitution.
He fills up the seat that became vacant by the death of Justice Scalia last year.

With this Judge Gorsuch became the 113th Supreme Court judge and the first one to be confirmed by the Senate and sworn in under the 45th US President Trump.
"I have no doubt you will rise to the occasion, and the decisions you make will protect our Constitution today and for many generations of Americans to come," he said.
Gorsuch has been compared favourably to Scalia by conservatives hopeful for another originalist on the court.

Gorsuch is likely to cast a deciding vote in a number of high-profile cases, which in part explains the terse and partisan hearing the he faced.
The high stakes led Republicans to trigger the "nuclear option" last week to kill the 60-vote filibuster threshold for Supreme Court nominees.